An article from Consumer Reports, June 1982, pages 300-303 analyzes several commercial electric bug killers. Among the undesirable features of these devices are clogging by insects and difficulty in opening and cleaning them, difficulty in changing bulbs, noisiness, and ineffectiveness. Most do not kill mosquitoes, which are not attracted to ultraviolet light.
Several patents show lights in boxes and rotating monofilaments.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,356,656 has a box with two circular openings and two light bulbs inside the box. Monofilaments rotate within the circular openings to kill bugs as they enter the openings towards the lights.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,251,945 has a lantern with rotating monofilaments on its outside.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,438,585 has a horizontal ring with a circulating monofilament over bait.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,737,753 has a rotating wire over a circular fluorescent lamp.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,807,116 has a box with a fan but it traps the insects in a trap rather than killing the insects with a monofilament against the screen.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,041,773 has a box with a fluorescent light outside the box and an incandescent light inside the box. The fan draws insects into a killing device.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,123,933 has a box with a light and a horizontal fan which draws insects into horizontal spokes in a wheel. There is no screen.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,883,790 shows a fan with an attracting light and a fine mesh screen. The fan simply blows insects into the expandable screen.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,893,161 has a similar device in which a fluorescent circular tube attracts insects which are drawn in by a fan past a trap door into a collection bag.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,806,321 shows a similar device with a concentrating funnel.
Problems remain in that electronic flying insect electrocution devices are noisy and may tend to attract increased insect populations. Effective use requires location at a distance from the protected area. Non-attracted insects in the protected area are neither displaced nor destroyed. Traps and physical kill devices require frequent disassembling and cleaning.